Isaiah 65:1-5 – God, the Sovereign Seeker
In verse 1, God doesn’t directly address His people in Judah and Jerusalem, but others. He speaks of those who had not cried out. He speaks of those who really had no interest at all. They had not asked, but to them God had sent the Word. The Spirit brought them to seek after the grace of God in Jesus Christ. How thankful we are that the Jews were not the only ones given the Word of God. It has come to the Gentile world. It has come to all of us. And the good news continues to go forth. There are those who do not seek, but God makes them to be found. The real seeker in all this is God. He is the One Who goes to those who aren’t even asking and moves them to seek after Him. He is the One Who goes to those who weren’t even seeking and suddenly shows up and says, ‘Look to me’.
In contrast to those in verse 1, we have these to whom God has stretched out his hands all day long. He characterizes them as a rebellious people. We see here in verse 2 that they willfully went their own way, and they followed their wicked hearts. How did they provoke and defy God? It was with idolatry. They claim that they are “worshipping” Jehovah, but they do so in unauthorized ways. They are sacrificing in gardens, not where God commanded in Jerusalem, and burning incense on altars of bricks. When it comes to the worship of God, we’re to follow God’s Word and only what He commands. We must not add to it, we must not take away from it. Then they take on other gods or idols before His sight.
But that wasn’t the only sort of sin. The other was self-righteousness. And that more characterised the Jews after the exile whereas idolatry characterised them before the exile. After the exile, what started popping up was a notion, ‘If we are outwardly good, everything else will be okay’. They thought that they would justify themselves by their own righteousness. They did not see the radical sinful nature of their hearts. They began to see their own laws and teachings as being even more important than God’s Word. If you don’t see there’s any sin, you don’t see that there’s any need for salvation. You don’t see any need for a Saviour. These people thought that they did even more than God requires. But their hearts were wicked. And God says, ‘I’m done with this. I’m going to get rid of it’. First there was destruction by Babylon. Then many years later, after they shifted to a new sin, there was destruction by Rome!
Question
- Who is God speaking to in verse 1?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that God seeks out His people.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.